Firebird
by say mona
Summary: Ginny Weasley cannot stand the arrogant, rich new Auror that works in the office next door. In a bid to annoy him, she organizes a staff auction at the upcoming Christmas party. She didn’t realize that she’d have to be sold in the auction as well… [AU]
1. Of Mayhem and the Ministry

**FIREBIRD**

_When angry, count to four.  
When very angry, swear._

**&&&**

Things had been going quite well for Ginny Weasley, if you didn't count the horrendous break-up between her and Harry, nor the disastrous results of Percy and his new wife Penelope's wedding. Apart from the fact that her mother thought she needed to go and see a psychiatrist (and had, since the wedding, been trying to persuade Kingsley Shacklebolt to give her anger management sessions within the Ministry), life was going splendidly for the Auror.

She was currently filling out an incident report, one of many that seemed to be clogging up her desk. Scratching at the parchment with obvious boredom on her face, the redhead exhaled thinly and then put down her quill before she banged her head on the desk exactly two times. Halfway through killing more brain cells and hitting her head for the third time, a voice interrupted her and she froze, sighing loudly and raising her head.

"Did you know that every time you bang your head, you lose a million brain cells?" Colin Creevey stated wryly as he entered the office with yet more incident reports, dropping them on top of the one that his partner had already started to fill out.

She glared at him, narrowing her eyes and breathing out slowly. "Thanks for that information," she responded simply, watching him sink into the chair behind his desk and stretch his arms. "Anyway, why would _I _care about losing a million brain cells per head bang?"

"Because," Colin retorted, glancing up at her from where he'd started writing something, "Once you lose three million cells, the Ministry has no use for you. You are, as the saying goes, brain-dead and useless to them."

Ginny scoffed, snorting in a way that Hermione would be proud of and folding her arms across her chest. "What about that woman - oh, what was her name? - Deidre Walker who's in the office next to us? I hear her banging her head on the wall at _least _once every two hours—"

"Yes, well—" And there was a pause as Colin cleared his throat and stood up, brushing his robes as he did so, before he strolled over to the redhead's desk and perched on it, winking at her. "That's why she's not there any more." He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, scratching the back of his head with a grin on his face. "And please don't tell me that you actually thought that those noises were _actually _her banging her—"

The Auror stared at her partner for a moment, noting his grin and the otherwise-calm expression on his face. "Well, yeah, but I have to admit that she did seem to like banging her head an awful lot…" She trailed off after a moment, a suspicious look suddenly appearing on her face. "Hang on, are you implying what I think you're implying?"

Colin blinked innocently and stood up, shrugging his shoulders again. "Well, I don't know—what _are _you thinking, Miss Weasley?"

He leant over her desk and reached for the stash of chocolate biscuits she had next to her cup of tea, but a sharp smack around the head made him rethink the move, and he pulled back, rubbing the back of his head gingerly. "_Ow_," he whined, glaring at her. "What was _that _for?"

"Serves you right," Ginny snapped, smirking at him, "For trying to nick my biscuits." She picked up the report she'd been doing and shoved it in one of her drawers, grabbing the stack of other incident forms and doing the same with them. When that was done, the woman smoothed out her desk and sighed happily. "Anyway, back to what we were talking about. Was she having sex or something?"

Her partner nodded slowly. He then covered his ears, not expecting the loud shriek of horror that fell from Ginny's mouth after she saw him confirm it.

"_Ugh_!" she cried, jumping out of her chair and running to inspect the wall. "That is _disgusting_!" Putting her face close to the wallpaper, she seemed to be examining it for any signs of dents that Auror Walker's activities could have caused.

Colin watched her, an amused expression on his face. He crossed over to where she was, placing a hand on her shoulder and shaking her lightly. "You know, whilst we were out on patrols, she could have very well—"

He didn't get a chance to finish. Ginny whirled around and slapped him, a horrified look on her face at the sheer _thought _of what he was insinuating.

"You're so… _ugh_!" Throwing her arms up into the air, she stalked past him and returned to her desk, grabbing a chocolate biscuit from her stash and munching on it thoughtfully whilst her partner rubbed his cheek, which now bore Ginny's red handprint right across it.

"Yes, and you're so _violent_," Colin retorted simply, scurrying over to his desk and ducking quickly to avoid being hit by the chocolate biscuit that she threw at him. Instead, he scrambled after the biscuit and promptly snapped it in half, stuffing one section of it into his mouth and grinning wickedly at her.

Ginny glared icily at him, tempted to hex him with her favourite Bat-Bogey Hex, but then Shacklebolt would have to give into her mother's pestering and sign her up for some anger management sessions. Inwardly, she shuddered, thus refraining from hitting her partner. Anger management sessions didn't bear thinking about.

Whilst she was thinking about whether to hex him or not, he had apparently said something to her, but she hadn't heard. The next thing she knew was that a shoe came flying towards her, and she shrieked in outrage as she moved to avoid it. The shoe collided with the side of her face, and a now-furious Ginny whipped out her wand, aimed it at Colin and screeched the first spell that came into her head.

"_Incendio_!"

Fire leapt from her wand, narrowly missing Colin as he ducked. Instead, it hit the curtains behind him and both the Aurors watched in horror as flames heartily began to eat up the rather expensive, velvet curtains. Scrabbling over towards them, both Ginny and her partner hastily put them out with a swiftly-uttered "_Aguamenti_," and then stood there for a moment, gazing at each other uncertainly.

"Well," Colin said eventually, eyeing Ginny with some mistrust, "Unless you plan on hexing me again, I suggest that we move this desk so Shacklebolt doesn't see the curtains."

Ginny nodded in agreement. "I'm not violent," she retorted simply, moving towards one side of the desk and starting to push it, "You're just disgusting sometimes."

The other Auror grabbed the opposite end of his desk and lifted it as well, the two of them working together to half-drag, half-carry it a few inches to the left. "That's not the point," he replied between breaths, "Shacklebolt loves these curtains. If he sees that something's happened to them—"

"Auror Weasley and Auror Creevey, what _are _you doing?"

The voice of the aforementioned Auror (who was now head of the department), Kingsley Shacklebolt, forced them to freeze, and in doing so, Ginny accidentally dropped her end of the desk, which caused Colin's eyes to widen in pain as there was now more strain for his muscles than there was for Ginny's. Putting his end of the desk on the floor as well, he turned around and stepped neatly to his left in order to hide one of the singed areas on the curtain, smiling broadly at their superior, whilst Ginny stood there and stared blankly at him for a moment before she snapped into action.

"Us? We're… we're rearranging the furniture!" she exclaimed, giving the desk a forceful push with her arm as Colin nodded, still smiling.

Standing in the doorway, Kingsley Shacklebolt frowned at them, folding his arms across his chest and shaking his head in a disbelieving manner. "And why, Auror Weasley, would you want to do that?"

"Because I'm sick of having to look at Ginny," Colin supplied with vigour. "I mean, yesterday," he inhaled and Ginny found herself praying that he didn't tell Shacklebolt about her turning pins invisible and placing them on his chair, "Well, _yesterday _was just _horrible_! She had her hair up and it showed her grey roots; I nearly threw up!"

Inhaling sharply, Ginny turned to glare at him, silently clenching her fists. She was twenty-two, therefore she did _not _have grey hair—not even one—and if she did, she'd blame him quite happily! Narrowing her eyes at her partner, she started to count to four, remembering a mantra that her equally-short tempered mother had taught her. 'When angry, count to four.' _One…_

Shaking his head again, Kingsley walked into their office, leaving one hand on the doorframe as he surveyed the surroundings. Inwardly thanking Merlin that she'd hidden all her unfinished (or, rather, not-even-started) reports in one of her drawer, Ginny quietly eyed the stack of papers that Colin had left on his desk, but the senior Auror said nothing about it. Mentally huffing, she reminded herself that she needed to kick her partner later—if _she _had left papers on _her _desk that hadn't been completed, Shacklebolt would have reprimanded her five times over!

Clearing his throat, the Head of Department gave the two Aurors a once-over and then straightened his posture, gesturing towards the door with one hand. "I'd like to welcome your new team member."

From behind Shacklebolt, a rather young-looking man entered the room, his swagger being the first thing that Ginny noticed. Short, dark brown hair fell into sharp blue eyes, and there was a cocky smirk on his lips that she instantly disliked. The fact that it looked like he was eyeing her up didn't help either, and she made another note to tell Ron that she had a stalker. That would send him crazy, and the redhead grinned at the thought of her older brother hexing this new Auror into oblivion. Sometimes it was good to be the only girl in the family.

Next to her, she saw Colin studying the male with similar interest, and Ginny thought about asking him if he was gay. But he wasn't, because—well—she'd caught him with one of the Ministry's receptionist, Tara Perkins, a few times, and that _definitely _meant that he wasn't gay. Returning her attention to Shacklebolt, both her and her partner exchanged glances, and Ginny had the distinct feeling that she knew the man from somewhere. Unable to proper think about it, because the new Auror had started speaking, her eyes flickered back to him as she started to listen to what he had to say.

"Hey," the male said breezily, and Ginny almost physically flinched. He'd said it in such a _cheesy_ manner—she almost wanted to grab the thickest book on Auror training she could find and hit him with it repeatedly. That would destroy his brain cells and then she wouldn't have to suffer the cheesiness anymore! "I'm Justin Finch-Fletchley. We went to Hogwarts together, but I was in Harry's year."

A light switched on in Ginny's head and she smiled widely at Justin, stepping across the room and holding her hand out to him. Behind her, she felt Colin's eyes on her, wondering what he was thinking for a brief second before Finch-Fletchley shook her hand and smiled back at her.

"Hi, I'm Ginny Weasley," she responded with a fake-happy voice. "I remember you; weren't you that Hufflepuff who was so obsessed with Herbology that everyone else thought you and Professor Sprout were getting it on?" Her smile widened, and she heard Colin snort.

Justin's face betrayed a flicker of annoyance, before he masked it with a smile that reminded Ginny of Gilderoy Lochkart's 'award-winning smile'. Ugh. If he reminded her of that insanely awful man, he obviously wasn't good news.

"That's me," he replied in good-natured tones, surprising her a little. "And you must be the Gryffindor that Harry Potter dumped in my sixth year, right? Apparently you cried for days, but I don't blame him for dumping you. After all, you are _ginger_."

Ginny instantly stiffened, yanking her hand out of his grasp as Colin came up next to her and glowered at the ex-Hufflepuff. How _dare _he talk about her break-up with Harry like that? Well, at least he didn't know that they'd broken up _again_. Why, she ought to _Crucio_ him and watch him die painfully for bringing that up! Sensing tension, Shacklebolt stepped in, just as Ginny thought that Colin was going to punch Justin.

"Weasley, Finch-Fletchley," he warned in dangerous tones, staring at them both. "I don't want any disputes. We are a _team_ here—and Weasley, Creevey, I want you two to show Justin the ropes. He transferred from the Irish Ministry of Magic, and we do things differently to them."

The redhead's face showed a picture of misery, and she opened her mouth to complain, but Colin interrupted her before she could.

"Don't worry," he said quickly, giving Kingsley his best smile. "We'll make sure Justin fits in perfectly fine!"

Ginny gave him a withering look, and he elbowed her sharply, causing her to wince. Apparently satisfied, Shacklebolt gave a nod of approval and then left the room behind Justin, pausing for a moment to turn back to the duo.

"Just so you know, he's in the office next to you. I expect _both _of you—" Cue glares, "—to behave appropriately to him. Good day."

Shacklebolt vanished and then Ginny turned on Colin, prodding him in the chest with her finger and standing on tiptoes so that she could reach his height. "What—" prod, "—did you say _that_—" prod, "—for—" yet another prod, "—Creevey?"

He grabbed her hand just as she was about to prod him again, holding it firmly as he grinned at her. "Because, dear Ginny," Colin responded with obvious mirth, "We'll make him cock up so many times that everyone will hate him."

Realisation dawned on her face and she shuffled a few steps away from her partner, nodding slowly. "Oh," she breathed before grinning in triumph. "Colin, you're a _genius_!"

There was a muffled thud as Creevey hit the floor, having not expected Ginny to throw herself at him and hug him so forcefully that he thought she was trying to strangle him.

* * *

The Leaky Cauldron was, as usual, full of life as Ginny pushed through the crowd, searching for the two people she'd arranged to meet up with. At her usual table, near the back of the pub, she saw Neville and Luna waving frantically at her. Hurrying over to them, she sunk into one of the chairs, grinning at the Neville whilst Luna vanished into the throng of people, presumably to get more drinks. 

"Evening, Gin," Neville grinned, relaxing in his chair and stretching in a manner that reminded the redhead of a cat. "How was the Ministry?"

"Crap," she replied, a gloomy expression appearing on her face as Luna returned with three Butterbeers. There was a slight pause as she took her drink and thanked her friend for it, taking a sip of the glass and sighing happily before setting it down and yawning.

"What happened?" Luna inquired, wiping her face with her hand to get rid of the foamy moustache that had appeared around her lips as a result of the Butterbeer. "Did Kingsley fire you?"

A snort from Ginny. "No, not yet." She took another swig from her glass and continued. "Colin annoyed me so I hexed him, but he ducked and I ended up setting the curtains on fire, so we had to move his desk to hide it. Of _course_," and here the woman's face shifted into a look of pure irritation, "Shacklebolt had to come along and find us moving the desk. He asked us what we were doing, I told him we were rearranging the furniture—"

Neville snorted whilst Luna remained deadly serious. "It's not funny, Neville," the ex-Ravenclaw stated plainly, shaking her head at him. "Curtains have feelings too, you know."

The two former Gryffindors stared at her and she blinked at them silently, before Ginny decided to continue with her story.

"_Anyway_. He asked why and Colin was like 'Because I can't stand looking at Ginny's grey hair,' which got me really mad because I don't _have _grey hair. So Shacklebolt's just like 'Whatever,' and then he introduces Justin Finch-Fletchley to us. He came in all 'I'm the best,' so I went up to him like 'Hey, I'm Ginny Weasley. Aren't you that kid who was getting it on with Professor Sprout back at Hogwarts?' and then he just _insulted me_!"

Neville reached out and patted her hand in a sympathetic manner. "Well, to be honest, you did _deserve _it," he said slowly, ignoring the death glare that she sent him.

"He's right," Luna added softly, finishing her Butterbeer. "Perhaps you shouldn't be so quick to judge. Besides, it's two weeks until Christmas—maybe you could give him another chance? He seemed quite nice back at school…"

Ginny scowled, gulping down the rest of her drink and sighing haughtily. "Yeah, but he's an arrogant _twat _now. He thinks he owns _everything_, and anyway, he was transferred from the Irish Ministry of Magic, and there's not much you can say about _them_." She stared at her glass for a second, brows furrowed in thought. "I'm not giving him a second chance," she added, as if it was an afterthought, "Because he brought up the subject of Harry and I."

"Ah," Neville breathed, shaking his head. "_Ah_. Doesn't he know that you two went—"

"No, he doesn't," she snapped back in response, and Luna rose from her chair.

"I'm going," she mused aloud, waving at them. The two glanced up and said their goodbyes, watching the former Ravenclaw vanish into the crowd before they returned their attention to the matter at hand.

"Then why don't you _tell _him?"

"_Because_," Ginny half-whined, "He'd make my life hell and rub it in my face!"

"_So_?" Neville shrugged, downing his drink and placing it back on the table. "When people made _my _life hell, _you _always told me to stick up for myself—why can't you do that now?"

Ginny shrugged, muttering something under her breath that Neville couldn't quite make out.

"Pardon?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and huffed loudly. "He'd tell Shacklebolt I was bullying him or something." She pulled a face, scowling darkly. "Then old Wacky Shacky would be on my case again."

Her co-worker raised an eyebrow at Ginny's nickname for the Head of Department, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly. Although he wasn't an Auror, Neville still worked in the Ministry, but in a different section. Ginny could never remember where he worked, only that he was obviously doing something very boring, because she always switched off when he started talking about his job.

"Want me to have a word with him for you?"

The redhead glared at him again. "Look, I don't want you getting involved—"

"—I owe you a favour anyway," he interrupted plainly, matching her stare.

There was a pause. Ginny sighed and ran a hand through her hair, scowling at him and resting her head on her hand. "_Fine_. But don't make me seem as if I can't fight my own battles—"

"—If you don't want to look like that, why don't you fight your own battles?" Neville teased, grinning at her. "I was only going to tell him that you can't do anything by yourself—"

"_What_?!" Ginny's eyes widened in indignation and she went to hit him, but he pushed his chair away from her and laughed.

"I'm only joking, Gin."

"You'd better be," she snapped, eyeing him dangerously. "I'm a Weasley—I can handle myself!"

"Mhm." Neville chuckled again, before he glanced at his wristwatch and then at Ginny. "Ah—I have to get going. Early start tomorrow."

Rising from where he sat, Ginny grabbed his arm and stopped him from leaving. "What exactly is it that you do again?" She smiled sweetly at him and he sighed, shaking his head.

"I work in the Department of International Magical Cooperation," he responded flatly. Seeing that she was going to ask another question, he hurriedly added, "That means I work with people from other Ministries—"

"—Ooh, did you ever work with Justin?"

"No, I didn't." Neville sighed in an exasperated manner and made to leave again, but Ginny still had hold of his arm.

"Can you do me a favour? Please?"

He looked at her suspiciously, pinching the bridge of his nose and exhaling air in a reluctant manner. "What is it?"

"Can you dig around for some dirt on Finch-Fletchley for me?"

Neville groaned and pinched his nose harder. Ginny noticed that it was turning white. "I don't want to get involved—"

"—Just this," she pleaded quickly. "Just this, Nev!"

"_Fine_," he stated through gritted teeth. "Just this once. And you owe me one."

"Great! Have it on my desk tomorrow; thank you!" She patted his arm and watched him merge with the crowd, before going up to the bar and ordering a Firewhiskey.

As of tomorrow, Justin Finch-Fletchley was going down, Weasley-style.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This story is inspired by SkoosiePants's _Otherwise_. The characters all belong to J. K. Rowling, and I own none of them, apart from Tara Perkins, who was only briefly mentioned, anyway. She might make an appearance later; watch out. Anyway, reviews are welcome, and this is the first time I've written about these characters before, so any pointers would be great. Cheers! 


	2. Dark Nights and Darker Days

**FIREBIRD**  
_  
Curiosity killed the cat,  
But satisfaction brought it back._

**&&&**

Ginny didn't remember how she got back to her flat that night. All she knew was that when she woke up, she was somehow at home, and she wasn't quite sure how she got there. Sitting up groggily, her hand flew up to her head as she felt a dull, throbbing pain erupt through her brain, yelping in displeasure. As if to taunt her, the pain intensified and so she sank back down onto her pillows with a sigh, just as the door opened and a head peered through the crack.

"Oi," a voice whispered, and Ginny raised an eyebrow in the general direction of the door, craning her head slightly. "_Oi_, are you up yet?" She sensed fondness and impatience behind the speaker's tones, and they also sounded incredibly familiar to her. "If you're up—"

"I'm up, I'm up!" she called out irritably, clutching her head again and trying not to groan. "Merlin's beard, I'm up." A short pause as she shifted slightly, wincing at the pain in her head. Now, if only she could find her wand and make the pain go away… "What do you want?"

The gap in the door widened, followed shortly after by Colin, who inched his way into the room and glanced around, uttering a low whistle and a slight shake of his head. "Morning, Gin," he beamed, waving at her, "Did you sleep well?"

She gaped at him, and then quickly lifted up her covers to check that she was still dressed. Thank Merlin that she was, otherwise she would have had to assume that he'd raped her, and _that _wouldn't have been pleasant. "Er… apart from the fact I have a really _bad _headache—"

"Yes, well…" Colin shrugged his shoulders gently and sat down on the end of the bed. "I found you in the Leaky Cauldron after I'd finished things off at the Ministry," he explained softly, scratching the back of his neck. "I don't know what you'd been drinking, but you were pretty drunk, so I brought you back to your place and stayed the night in order to make sure that you were okay."

That wasn't entirely true, but she didn't need to _know _the truth.

"I'm sorry for causing you any—"

"Trouble? Nah. It was my pleasure." He shook off Ginny's regretful tone and grinned at her, reaching over and ruffling her hair. She winced and he remembered that she had a headache. "Ah, right. Sorry. Forgot." A moment of awkwardness followed and Colin headed towards her bedroom door, turning around for a second and glancing back at the redhead. "Want some tea?"

She pulled a face and it was his turn to eye her curiously. "What's wrong? Don't like a good old British cup of tea in the morning?"

"I have a headache," Ginny shot back grumpily, curling up on her side and staring at the wall. "Therefore I feel entitled to pain relief. So, if you can find any of that—there's some in the medicine cabinet, that's in the bathroom—and fix me up some coffee, I'll be fine."

Colin wrinkled his nose. "It's illegal to have coffee in the morning," he said pointedly.

"Since _when_?" He could almost hear the disbelieving sneer to her voice, and if she didn't have a hangover, he would have gone over and tickled her. But she did, and he wasn't that mean.

"Since just now," was his simple response. "That leaves you with tea or no tea."

Ginny groaned and pulled the duvet over her head. "With every word you say," she moaned, her voice slightly muffled, "My headache gets worse and worse."

The Auror feigned a look of dismay. "Your words strike me like an arrow to the heart," he wailed, opening the door and stepping outside of the room whilst raising his voice so that she could still hear him, "But I am immortal, and therefore cannot die. Besides, my voice sounds like angels singing, Tara told me so!"

From inside the room, he heard his partner snort. "That might be because you constantly have your _tongue _down her _throat_, now get me some pain killers and some coffee and leave me in _peace_!"

Shutting the door as quietly as he could, Colin grinned to himself and ambled to the kitchen, hunting for cups and finally placing two on the counter when he'd found them. Next began the almighty hunt for the teabags—he could've sworn that Ginny didn't actually possess any; damn those Americans for poisoning the British heritage—but eventually found a box of teabags carefully hidden under the sink. Well, she'd obviously tried to forget about _them_, but he wasn't going to let her.

Dropping them into the cups and boiling some water, the Auror then padded down the hallway and towards the bathroom. It was oddly clean compared to the rest of the house, he noted, and everything was colour-coordinated a nice mixture of blue and white. Rummaging through the medicine cabinet, he found pregnancy tests—since when had Ginny needed _those_?—tablets for stomach aches, paracetamol, plasters, bandages… the list could go on and on and on.

Grabbing a packet of headache-killing paracetamol, Colin returned to the kitchen to find that the kettle was boiling. He chuckled, pouring the according amount into both cups and then rushing to the fridge to get the milk. Despite being a wizard, there were things that had to be done the good old Muggle way, like making a cup of tea. Although having tried making tea using magic, he'd decided that it tasted better when made by hand, and so whenever he made a cup of the substance, he never used magic.

"Gin," he yelled, aiming his voice towards her bedroom, "Do you take sugar?"

"Yeah," she called back, "Two, please. You're still making me coffee, right?"

"Of course!"

Grinning to himself, he put the packet of paracetamol in his mouth and carried the two mugs of tea into his partner's bedroom. Colin's aforementioned partner looked up at him from where she lay sprawled under her duvet and staring at the ceiling, and he smiled at her as he set her tea down on the small chest of drawers next to her bed, placing the tablets next to the drink and patting her hand in a reassuring manner.

"Cheers." The Auror smiled gratefully and sat up as he handed the mug to her, crossing to the other side of the room with his own tea and observing her in amused silence as he stood by the door.

Ginny took one sip of the tea and her face shifted into a look of horror and disgust. She promptly set it down again, her eyes flashing dangerously as she glared at Colin who had, by now, started laughing. Grabbing the nearest thing to her—which happened to be her pillow—she threw it at him and hit him in the face, causing his tea to slosh all down his robes.

Colin screeched, trying to steady himself and stop his drink from spilling whilst attempting to wipe the tea off his robes with his foot. This ultimately resulted in him falling haphazardly to his left, narrowly missing hitting the wall, but sending his all-time favourite drink to splash all over the creamy-white wallpaper. Ginny watched with obvious humour, laughing at his misfortune as he had done to her, but she stopped as soon as she saw the wall.

Sitting up and picking up his cup, Colin noticed her expression and turned his head towards the sight, visibly wincing. The brown liquid had gone everywhere, and it looked as if someone had just chucked paint all over one specific area of the wall. Biting his lip and glancing back at the redhead, he got to his feet and smiled sheepishly at her whilst she took two tablets and then scowled at him.

"Aw, Ginny, I'm really sorry—"

"Save it," she snapped. "I have a headache, I have work, I have to deal with that _arsehole_, so I'm just not in the mood. And now," she added, staring blankly at her wall, "The wall is ruined."

Colin cringed. "It's nothing that magic won't fix! And anyway, you shouldn't worry about Finch-Fletchley, he's nothing but an idiot—"

At the mention of 'that arsehole,' Ginny stiffened and her glare darkened considerably. "That's easy for you to say," she retorted, wrapping her duvet around herself with a sigh. "It's not that I don't appreciate the effort, Colin, it's just that—"

"—You're a Weasley and you don't need help?" He grinned at her and shook his head. "Sure you do, Gin. Even Ron—and this is _Ron_ we're talking about—admits that he needs help sometimes."

Ginny scoffed. "Yeah, like once in a blue moon," she muttered irritably, massaging her temples. "I'm going back to sleep."

"But we have to go to work!"

"_So_?" She looked up from where she'd flopped down onto her pillow. "Work can _wait_. My head hurts."

"We have to show Justin around the place," Colin stated dryly, sighing. "And I'm sure you don't want to miss out on _that _fun—"

"—Maybe I do," Ginny responded sourly.

"—And anyway, Tara sent me an owl and said that Neville had left something on your desk." The Auror shrugged. "She said it looked like a report."

The redhead sat up sharply, eyes narrowed. "She _looked at it_?" Her fists clenched under the duvet and she suddenly climbed out of bed, stalking towards the door. She was stopped, however, by Colin, who'd grabbed her wrist and was now watching her with a calm expression on his face.

"Not necessarily," he said as passively as possible, "She just _glanced _at it…"

"Oh, stop defending your stupid little _girlfriend_," Ginny sneered, trying to free herself of Colin's grasp. Surprisingly enough, he was stronger than her, and she couldn't quite break free. "She _shouldn't _be looking at _my _stuff!"

In that moment, Colin had pushed her up against the wall, pinning his body against hers in one single motion. Ginny, caught off-guard by it, didn't move, but she pushed her hands against his chest and squirmed slightly as he levelled his eyes with hers and spoke slowly and clearly to her.

"She's not my girlfriend, Ginny."

It occurred to Ginny that she could feel his breath on her lips, and it sent goosebumps up her skin. Narrowing her eyes at him and shoving him away, she rubbed her wrist absentmindedly and scowled at him. "Okay, okay, I get it."

"Now," he stated, as if nothing had happened, pulling her wand out of his pocket and handing it to her, "Let's get to the Ministry—I want to see what dear Neville has left you."

——————————————————————————

They travelled to the Ministry in silence, Ginny too wrapped up in her own little world to care that Colin kept giving her looks. He'd just informed her that she was complaining about her headache for the fifth time in ten minutes when they arrived outside the building, walking towards the set of double-doors and then entering just like they had travelled there: in silence.

The floors were wide and there were staircases leading off to every place imaginable, little signs next to them helping out those who were visiting the Ministry for the first time, whilst at the desk sat a rather perky-looking brunette with glasses and her hair done up in a neat bun. It was Tara, the girl that Ginny had caught Colin with several times (although she had never told anyone about it; the most she'd done was use those occasions when she did stumble across them as things to wind her partner up about), and to her surprise, he didn't go over to meet her. In fact, he walked right past her, with Ginny following in pursuit, too stunned to say a word.

Heading towards the lifts (because neither of them could be bothered to take the stairs), Colin was the first one to break the lack of conversation. As the doors slid shut, he slumped against the wall and glanced at Ginny, tapping her lightly on the shoulder. She jerked her head around to look at him, sighing softly and folding her arms across her chest.

"I take it you're still mad about your wallpaper?" he inquired carefully, not wanting to push the matter. If there was one thing that he'd learnt in his two years of working with her, it was that she was oddly possessive about her wallpaper… and her chocolate biscuits.

"Mhm," she responded, staring avidly at the door. "And with the general 'Let's-try-and-tell-Ginny-that-I'm-not-with-Tara-by-shoving-her-against-a-wall' thing that went on. Yeah, you could say I'm pretty ticked off with you because of that, too," Ginny added acidly, lifting her head up to gaze at the ceiling.

Colin didn't say anything for a while, and Ginny decided that he simply wasn't going to. Then again, that was men for you. They were perfectly fine with telling you that _you _were wrong, but when it came to themselves, they were all gods. She snorted to herself, glaring at her partner out of the corner of her eye. Unfortunately for her, he noticed.

"Look, I'm sorry about that, okay? I'm not going out with her—"

"She looked pretty hacked off to me when you didn't say hello to her," she commented simply, ignoring the annoyed tones that he'd just used. "If I was a casual observer and I _hadn't _walked in on you two getting it on several times, I'd still say that you two are an item."

"We're not. Case closed." Was that a hint of _frostiness _in his tone?

"Cor," Ginny breathed eventually, trying not to grin, "You're really touchy about her, did you know that?" She smirked at him and he shot her a filthy look as the lift slid to a halt and the doors opened, revealing none other than Justin Finch-Fletchley.

He looked rather surprised to see them, Ginny mused as she instinctively stepped towards the exit, but then the surprise merged into a cocky grin, and as they passed each other, she could have _sworn _that she felt him touch her arse. Spinning around furiously, she pointed her wand at his head, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"_What_," she spat heatedly, "Was _that _for, Justin?"

The former Hufflepuff feigned innocence, raising his hands into the air and pouting at her. "Surely you wouldn't attack a fellow—" The pressure of her wand became greater, and Justin winced slightly. "I don't know what you're on about—"

"Leave it," Colin commanded coolly, tugging at his partner's arm. "Shit like that isn't worth getting involved in."

At this, Justin glared at him angrily, and Ginny lowered her wand reluctantly. She turned away and stalked off with Colin close behind her, and as the lift doors closed and Justin vanished down to another level of the Ministry, Ginny practically exploded as she stormed down the corridor.

"I _cannot believe _that he _did that_!" she screeched, jabbing her wand into the air with a vengeance. "Of all the _slimy_, _rotten_ things he could do, he just _had _to go and _grope me_!" She glowered at another Auror as they walked past, and they hurried off, appearing to be quite intimidated by the rather famous Weasley temper. Colin, however, attempted to calm her down as the duo neared their office.

"I'm sure he didn't mea—"

"Didn't _mean _it? You could _tell _by the look on his _face _that he meant it! Of course he did! He's a filthy, filthy _pervert_—"

Having spotted Shacklebolt coming down the corridor to see what all the noise about, Ginny's partner promptly placed his hand over her mouth and dragged her into their office, slamming the door behind him and then releasing her as she struggled in vain.

"What was _that _for?" Ginny snarled, quite tempted to hit him with something.

"Shacklebolt was coming—"

"I don't _care _if Wacky Shacky was coming, you didn't need to _grab _me!"

Colin sighed and ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. Today was going to be a long day. "I thought you had a headache?" he questioned, glaring at her without much conviction. "You shouldn't be making so much noise."

"That's not the _point_—" Ginny was, once again, cut off by her partner, who'd crossed over to her desk and was now waving Neville's report in the air with a half-curious, half-amused look on his face.

"Want this?" he drawled, smirking at her. "Looks pretty interesting." He flicked open the cover, spotting the name that Neville had scrawled down quickly. "Ooh, someone's been digging up dirt on old Finchy—"

"_Give me that_!" Ginny shrieked, wrenching the folder out of Colin's grasp and clutching it to her chest as if it was a baby. "It's mine; I asked Nev to do it for me as a favour."

"Digging up dirt on your arch nemesis?" Colin raised a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Yes—well—no, not really. I wanted to find things out about him—"

"—Like how many girlfriends he's had?" Ginny hit him over the head with the folder. "_Ouch_!"

"_No_," she retorted bluntly. "Things about him that I—_we_—could use to our advantage."

"Well, come on then, open it up!"

Harassed by Colin, Ginny reluctantly placed the folder on the table and sat down on her chair with her partner perched next to her. They flicked open the first page and struggled to decipher Neville's messy handwriting, eventually managing to read what most of it said.

_Ginny,_

_So I did some digging about Justin, just like you asked. This means that no, I won't have a word with him, because by doing this, I've repaid the favour I owed you. Technically you now owe me one, but I won't go into that. Anyway, I've written down what I could find—sorry if you can't read my writing, I had to do this in a bit of a hurry._

_Name: Justin Oliver Finch-Fletchley._

_Age: Twenty-three._

_Date of Birth: 16th April, 1980._

_School attended: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_House: Hufflepuff._

Colin scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Well, he hasn't discovered things that we don't already know," he stated dryly, shaking his head. "He's not a very good detective—"

"_Shh_," Ginny hissed, elbowing him sharply. "Let me carry on reading!"

_Job: Auror._

_Currently employed: Ministry of Magic, England._

_Formerly employed: Ministry of Magic, Ireland._

_Previous employer's comments: Justin Finch-Fletchley is a hard-working and dedicated member of our Auror team here at the Irish Ministry of Magic. He displays great enthusiasm for the job and has a nose for sniffing out criminals. Although he sometimes gets distracted (more-so by women, we have noticed), he is known for working extra hours in order to solve the 'insolvable' cases._

_Justin's been a pleasure to work with and employ. We've enjoyed having him on our team, but there have been a few problems._

Here, Ginny's eyes lit up and she carried on reading, now with a sense of urgency and satisfaction about her.

_A fellow Auror once found him drunk in his office with another woman. I won't mention her name for the sake of her identity, but needless to say, the sight was very disturbing. They were engaging in matters that are, in most opinions, best left out of the work place, and although Justin vowed that he would never do it again, he did seem to be a repeat offender—and it was never with the same woman, either._

_There have been a few anger issues with Justin, too. A colleague didn't agree with him and he turned around and hexed him for no apparent reason. The victim was in St. Fionn's for a week, recovering from boils and a broken arm, so we did have to suspend him for attacking an Auror without reason. He's lucky that we didn't take away his wand, although there have been occasions where we've had to do that, too._

Ireland's Minister for Magic (or their Head of Department for Aurors—she couldn't quite tell who was writing the report), seemed to have had quite a lot of trouble with Justin, even if he was a 'dedicated member' of their team with a 'nose for sniffing out criminals.' Ginny snorted in amusement, and Colin was already chuckling to himself.

She turned her head to say something to her partner when a figure caught her attention out of the corner of her eye, and Ginny glanced at the door, as did Colin. Leaning in the doorway was Justin, with an expression on his face that seemed to say that he was less than thrilled about their snooping.

"Been looking through my files, have you?" he questioned icily, glowering at them from where he stood. "Well, that's just not _nice_. No wonder Harry dumped you, Ginny; you seem to want to know _everything _about _everyone_. And what about you, Colin? Shouldn't you be off fucking that receptionist?"

Both Colin and Ginny stiffened and glared at him.

"Shut the hell up," Colin snarled, whilst Ginny simply held up her wand and aimed it at Justin's head.

"I wouldn't waste my time taking orders from you," Justin retorted simply, turning and walking away.

The Aurors exchanged looks, and it took a few seconds for Ginny to finally lower her wand, breathing in and out deeply as if to calm herself. She felt Colin's arm wrap around her shoulder and she tensed gently, frowning at the floor.

"Ignore him—"

"No," Ginny said savagely, fists clenching. "I'm going to fucking _kill _him."

——————————————————————————

**Author's Notes: **Cheers for the review, The Zazu! Just so everyone knows, Voldemort isn't dead in this story, and it'll be explained as to why Harry dumped Ginny again in a few chapters—whenever I can fit it in, really. I had this chapter written up a while ago, which is why it's up so quickly, but I'm still in the process of writing up the third chapter which will introduce another main character (I didn't actually intend for this person to be in the story... but it just happened) and make things even more complicated, and the auction hasn't even been thought of yet!

For anyone else, reviews are very much welcome and appreciated; thanks for reading!


	3. Enemies and Espionage

**FIREBIRD**

_Tonight you calm my restlessness,  
You relieve my sadness._

**&&&&**

"No wonder Harry _dumped _me?"

It was now six o'clock in the afternoon and Ginny was, as usual, to be found in the Leaky Cauldron with Neville and Luna. As Colin had predicted soon after Justin had walked away from their office and left the two Aurors absolutely fuming over his comments, the redhead was still ranting and raving about what he had said - especially the comment about Harry.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," Neville provided helpfully, returning from the bar with two Butterbeers and a Firewhisky for Ginny. He placed the beverages down on the table and pushed the alcoholic one towards the Auror before seating himself next to Luna and offering her a Butterbeer.

Ginny snatched the Firewhisky with badly-hidden eagerness and took a quick gulp of the drink, wincing slightly as the liquid burned her throat. She placed the pint glass back down on the table and smacked her lips together thoughtfully, scowling at what Neville had said and shaking her head fiercely.

"Didn't_ mean _it?" she half-shrieked, fists clenching. "This is Justin Finch-_Fuckface_ we're talking about, Nev! _Fuck_._ Face_." Stressing her preferred term for the last part of Justin's name, Ginny hit the table with her fist as she placed extreme emphasis on 'fuck' and 'face', visibly fuming at the sheer thought of the brown-haired individual.

Luna had been watching the conversation about Justin Finch-Fletchley for the past ten minutes in silence, and as she sipped at her Butterbeer, she licked the moustache that had formed above her top lip as a result of the frothiness of the liquid and clasped her hands together formally, resting them on the top of the table that the trio were sharing.

"Vows made in storms are forgotten in calm," she said quietly - so quietly that both Neville and Ginny had to ask her to repeat what she had just said. Reiterating it quite peacefully, the two Ministry workers exchanged glances and Ginny inhaled slowly, keeping a firm hold of her Firewhisky.

"Er, thanks for that," Neville responded, flashing Luna a smile. "Do you want another Butterbeer?"

"Of course she doesn't want another bloody Butterbeer, Neville," the redhead interjected, rolling her eyes. "Luna hasn't even finished her first one!" A pause as she saw the Ministry worker open his mouth and quickly added, "Mind you, if you're up for buying more drinks, fancy getting me another Firewhisky?"

Neville sighed slightly, running a hand through his hair and smiling thinly at Luna who responded by patting his hand reassuringly. "No, I'm not getting you any more alcohol. That's your third drink already and I know how strong you like your whiskeys."

At this, Ginny stuck out her bottom lip and folded her arms across her chest, pouting at Neville. The male seemed indifferent to her puppy eyes and attempts to tell him, without words, that she _really_ would like it if he got her another drink. Instead, the former Gryffindor raised an eyebrow at the redhead, shook his head and proceeded to launch into a conversation with Luna about what his section of the Ministry actually did.

_Snore_, the Auror thought dully, taking another swig of the beverage and sighing as it filled her with a momentary warmth from the pit of her stomach to her fingertips. She exhaled, drumming her fingers on the table and choosing to ignore what her friends were talking about, although she did catch snatches of conversation now-and-again.

"… at the moment, we're sorting out issues between England and Russia…"

"… just last month, one of our officers - Wilbur Quincy - managed to make a new bond between British Ministry and the Saudi Arabian Ministry…"

"… I'm actually going to run for the Head of Department position. The current one, Elaine Alberwick, is retiring in January…"

Merlin's beard, how boring could working in the Department of International Magical Cooperation _be_? Ginny was momentarily thankful that she hadn't gone for a stuffy desk job like Percy - she'd be bored out of her brains by now. In fact, if she was Neville, she probably would have started stirring things up between Britain and France (she never could stand those Beuxbaton students) just to make things interesting.

Clearing her throat, the Auror was mildly surprise that both Neville and Luna turned to regard her with interested gazes, and she sniffed slightly and downed the rest of her Firewhisky before setting it on the table with a sense of finality about the movement. "Right, I'm off," Ginny concluded, her speech sounding rather slurred, even to her own ears.

"Do you want us to walk you home?" Neville asked, a concerned look on his face. "You're pretty smashed, Gin. I'm surprised you actually found your way back to your flat yesterday."

"I didn't," she replied, and at the look of mystification upon his face, she added, "Colin found me and took me home."

"Ah. Colin Creevey?"

Cue a nod from Ginny. "Yeah—"

"—he's a charming man," Luna cut in with a small smile, her eyes misting over slightly. "I remember his photography; does he still keep that up?"

Raising an eyebrow at the former Ravenclaw, the Auror shook her head. "Er… not that I know of, and yes, he is quite nice, isn't he?" She stood up, legs wobbling slightly as she squeezed out of their nightly space at the back of the Leaky Cauldron and inhaled deeply, the smells of various drinks - both alcoholic and non-alcoholic - hitting her at once as waiters and waitresses walked past her.

Neville stood as well, one hand on his friend's arm as he steadied her, still looking apprehensive. "Are you absolutely _sure _that you don't want us to walk you back to your flat, Gin?" he asked again, vaguely aware of the fact that Luna had her hand resting on his shoulder in a silent action of support.

"We will if you want us to," the blonde girl added, her voice echoing Neville's with an equal amount of concern. "You don't look well, Ginny."

Hiccupping in response, the redhead told them firmly that she didn't need their help getting home ("My flat's just around the corner, remember?") and started to force her way through the throng of people in the pub, somewhat surprised at how crowded it was for a Thursday night.

Pushing past a particularly ignorant-looking goblin, the Auror somehow managed to make her way towards the door of the Leaky Cauldron. She was mentally counting the steps in her head, stumbling out of the pub and into the cool September air. The change from a hot and stuffy environment to something much colder caused Ginny to start shivering, and for a moment, she forgot what direction she lived in.

"Is it left or right?" Ginny asked aloud in sing-song tones, turning in a full circle and then staggering to the side slightly as the alcohol fully set in. Something in her head told her that she probably shouldn't have had that much to drink, but she wasn't exactly going to listen to her conscience, and if she did, there wasn't much she could do about it anyway; it wasn't as if she had possessed the ability to go back in time, was it?

Turning around again, she exhaled loudly and turned left, blundering down the road for a good five minutes before she thought she heard someone calling her name. Glancing over her shoulder, Ginny could see no one behind her and mumbled something about hearing things. She staggered forwards again, accidentally walking into a lamppost in the process and ending up sprawled out on the pavement whilst clutching her face and groaning.

"Weasley!_ Weasley_, wait up—oh, Christ, are you alright?" Someone was standing over her but she couldn't quite make out who it was due to the fact that their face was silhouetted by the streetlight. Hands eased her up into sitting position and she said something that was apparently inaudible, sniffling in a rather pathetic manner.

"I can't hear what you're saying, Weasley, speak up," the voice said softly, and Ginny whimpered and flung her arms around the stranger's neck, pressing her face against their shoulder. "I still can't hear you, Weasley. Take your head off me for a start."

Obliging and feeling dizzy as she pulled back and stared at the unknown individual whose face was still silhouetted by streetlights (either that or she was incredibly drunk), the Auror recalled Justin's comment about how it was no surprise that Harry had dumped her, and started to cry.

Loudly.

The tears streamed down her face as she wailed and clung desperately to her saviour, the words coming out of her mouth making no sense - not even to her heavily-intoxicated brain. Apparently the stranger didn't understand what she was saying either.

"Bloody_ Hell_, Weasley, stop _crying_!"

"It's all _your _fault!" Ginny started to blubber, hitting the stranger's shoulder repeatedly and sniffling. She wiped her nose with her hand and then smeared the hand down the unknown individual's face, causing them to cringe and utter a series of vulgar phrases. "All _your _fault, you _bastard_! I-if—"

"_What's _my fault, Weasley?"

"—shut the _fuck _up and don't interrupt me!" A hiccup. "If you hadn't come along and _ruined everything _again, m-maybe I'd be married to him and not _single _a-and _alone_, you_ bastard_!"

A beat as the stranger contemplated over the situation and then lifted Ginny up into his arms, where she continued to shriek and fight against him.

"Put me _down_!"

"Weasley, you're as drunk as the Devil on a bad day, do you know that?"

The Auror lashed out at the male, slapping him around the face. He seemed indifferent to the attack and proceeded to place the redhead over his shoulder, getting to his feet and starting to walk in the opposite direction to where he'd found Ginny.

"You're_ fucking _kidnapping me, you arrogant—"

"Shut it, Weasley. You have no idea what you're saying. I could get you done for assault," the stranger snapped back, striding down the road and whistling a merry tune to himself with Ron's sister still over his shoulder. After a few minutes, she quieted slightly and he was about to bet on whether or not she'd fallen asleep when, whilst unlocking the front door to his ground-floor flat, Ginny stirred and said something.

"What did you say?" the male queried, having not heard the comment she'd made.

In response, Ginny vomited all down his back and on the steps that led up to his front door.

"Smooth, Weasley, real smooth," Draco Malfoy replied dryly before opening his front door and carrying the Auror (who was now unconscious) into his flat.

* * *

When Ginny came to, she could smell vomit, as well as a mixture of homely smells and—wait, did she just catch a whiff of _lavender_? 

Opening her eyes, the Auror groaned dimly and sat up slowly, taking in her surroundings. The floor was wood - polished wood, actually - and the walls were a crisp white in colour. There was what appeared to be a Muggle lamp in the corner of the room, casting a gentle glow up onto the ceiling, and a fireplace was crackling merrily opposite where she lay on the settee.

Sniffing slightly, she could still smell lavender, although she wasn't entirely sure where it came from. The settee, she now noticed, was a deep brown in colour and made from leather, and as the female ran her hands along the back of the couch, she was vaguely aware of the fact that whoever owned the lounge she was in (and, ultimately, the house she was in) was obviously used to living in nothing short of luxury.

Proceeding to clear her throat, the redhead swung her legs off the furniture and got up, wobbling slightly as blood rushed to her head. She caught her reflection in a full-length mirror hanging on the wall and immediately scowled. There was sick crusted in her hair, she was pale, her eyes were bloodshot and… she was wearing a _dressing gown_?

A movement to the left of her caused her to look up sharply and she saw Draco Malfoy leaning in the doorway of the living room with an expression of clear amusement upon his face. Ginny's scowl darkened as she saw him and she immediately clenched her fists, reaching for her wand before realising that it wasn't actually there.

"You—"

"Be quiet for once, Weasley," Draco interrupted smoothly, smirking at her. "When I found you, you looked rather disgusting, so I had a House Elf change your clothes. That dressing gown you're wearing is mine—don't ruin it, or you can buy me a new one—and I'm running you a bath at the moment so that you can clean yourself up before dinner."

Ginny opened her mouth and then closed it again. She did this several times, eventually narrowing her eyes and folding her arms across her chest, suddenly conscious of the fact that she could actually hear a bath running upstairs. "I hope you realise that I don't actually appreciate any of this, and that I fully intend for you to shove that bath up your ferrety little arse, Malfoy, so that I can go home."

The former Slytherin's smirk widened slightly. "You want to walk all the way home in my dressing gown?"

"Yes—_no_. Where are my clothes?" the Auror shot back, glaring at him. "Who put you up to this?"

"Your clothes are currently being washed by two House Elves, Weasley, so I'd watch what you say if I were you." At the second question, Draco seemed to hesitate, before he shrugged nonchalantly and rolled his eyes. "Oh, you know, the usual. The Dark Lord wants to isolate Potter so he's making me kidnap all the Boy Wonder's pathetic little friends—"

"—shut_ up_!" Ginny screeched, to both her and Draco's surprise. "Give me back my clothes and give me back my wand!"

A shrug from the blond-haired male was the answer to her statement. "Just shut up and have a bath, Weasley," he drawled, wrinkling his nose and pulling a face. "You smell like Dumbledore decided to shit on you five times and dump you in the Great Lake."

Ginny stiffened before marching past him and out into the hallway, giving him a good shove as she did so. She kept her nose in the air as she stormed towards the stairs, setting foot on the first step and all-too mindful of the fact that Draco was watching her, before she realised that she didn't actually know where the bathroom was. Glowering to herself, she glanced at the ex-Slytherin and opened her mouth.

"Malfoy—"

"Upstairs, second room on the right," he responded promptly, the intolerable smirk still on his face. "Dinner is in thirty minutes. I expect you to be ready by then—and don't ruin my dressing gown, it's my favourite one."

There was a hint of annoyance to his voice when he spoke about the dressing gown, and the Auror's face betrayed a look of equal irritation at the thought of him having guessed her intentions. Scowling at him in response, the redhead stomped up the stairs and, after opening two doors to see which one was the right one, swiftly entered the bathroom and slammed the door shut.

"Don't slam the _fucking _door!" Draco bellowed after her, but his request was met with a muffled response, and then silence.

* * *

Thirty minutes later resulted in Ginny exiting the bathroom to find her clothes neatly stacked next to the door. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, picking up the clothes and returning to the bathroom in order to dress herself properly. Ten minutes later, the Auror was descending the stairs, smelling lightly of peppermint soap with Malfoy's dark green dressing gown flung over her shoulder. 

Hearing the sounds of plates clattering from behind a door, she opened the said door and peered into the room, spotting Draco and three House Elves in a rather crowded kitchen. Amused at the sight, Ginny shuffled into the room and dropped the dressing gown over one of the chairs, clearing her throat to announce her presence. As she did, Draco turned around, instantly smirking at her when he saw her.

"You almost don't look poor anymore," he commented with a barely-restrained sneer, and then added, "Ah, I forgot. That's because you used my bath and not your own."

Giving him the finger, the Auror sat down at the table and continued to glower at the blond, unimpressed by him. A few minutes later, he joined her and sat opposite her as plates of steaming food were set down in front of them. Ginny stared at them for a moment as Malfoy helped himself, and she couldn't help but grimace as he took two chicken drumsticks and started to chew on them in the manner that a dog would.

"Not hungry, Weasley?" he asked with a mouthful of food, and for a moment, Ginny was reminded of Ron. She scowled at him.

"Why are you doing this?" she queried in reply, choosing not to answer his question. Tentatively reaching forward to spoon some peas onto her plate, she jumped slightly as a House Elf appeared by her elbow and did the job for her, ceasing to spoon vegetables on her plate as soon as she indicated when to stop.

At the question, Draco leant forward, resting his elbows on the table as he took another chunk out of the drumstick. "Why, Weasley?" he echoed, and the Auror pulled a face as small chunks of meat were sprayed towards her from his mouth. "Because I was told to."

"By who?" Shovelling some peas into her mouth, the redhead watched the male for any signs of emotion. There were none, save for the smirk he always had on his face. Apparently he also had the ability to smirk whilst he was eating.

"By someone," the blond replied, dropping the bone onto his plate and reaching for the bowl of carrots, "Who will remain anonymous for my benefit and yours."

Annoyed by this, Ginny took a drumstick and started to chew on it. "Was it Colin?"

"_Creevey_?" There was an incredulous note to his voice and Malfoy started to laugh, as if he was highly amused by the suggestion. "That Mudblood freak with a penchant for taking photos? _Merlin_, no. Why would I take orders from a _Mudblood_, let alone listen to him when he wants me to do something?"

This served to irritate the Auror further and she clenched her fists and spoke through gritted teeth. "_Colin_ is not a Mudblood, he is a _Muggle-born_ and also my colleague, Malfoy. He's a hundred times better than you could ever hope to be—"

"It was someone called Finch-Fletchley," Malfoy said casually, reaching for the potatoes that had conveniently been placed to the right of him. "That's his name, isn't it?" he added as he met Ginny's gaze, putting four potatoes on his plate before setting the bowl down. "Jason Finch-Fletchley or something like that…"

"Justin," the former Gryffindor retorted with frosty tones, pushing her plate away from her. "Justin Finch-Fletchley."

"What's the matter, Weasel, lost your appetite?" Draco answered, motioning towards her plate. "Yeah, that's the guy."

Standing up and pushing her chair out with one hand, Ginny's face was a picture of pure thunder. "Shut it, Ferret, I'm not in the mood. Thanks for the dinner, it was—" she glanced at the meal and inwardly grimaced, "—_lovely_."

Draco, too, had risen, and was now making his way to one of the cupboards. He pulled a packet of some sort, as well as her wand, and threw the wand towards her. She caught it, silently thanking her Chaser reflexes, before making her way towards the door. Seconds later, she was in the hallway and heading towards the door when a voice behind her stopped her.

"Weasley—"

"_What_?" Ginny snapped impatiently, turning to glower at Malfoy.

"Take these." He pushed a small packet of paracetamol into her hand and then glared right back at her. "This wasn't my idea, by the way. It was Justi—"

"Why did he want you to get involved?" the Auror's voice was icy and she was now giving the blond a look of pure death. "Did he _pay _you or something?"

There was a fleeting pause before Draco smirked, looking rather satisfied with himself. "As a matter of fact, yes, he did. But no, Weasley, I don't know why he wanted me to follow you—"

"_Follow me_?!"

"—around, yes," the ex-Slytherin interjected quickly, noting the murderous expression on her face and the way her hands were now miming the act of strangling someone. "To see what you were doing, who you were hanging out with, you know—"

"No, Malfoy, I'm afraid I _don't _know," Ginny snarled furiously. "Please, _do _elaborate."

She was about to poke him in the chest when he leant past her and pressed some sort of button. The front door behind the Auror opened, and Malfoy promptly pushed her out of his flat and onto the steps, slamming the door in her face.

"He paid me not to elaborate," the blond answered, lifting up the flap of the letterbox. Ginny aimed a punch at it and there was a muffled shout from Malfoy as it shut suddenly on his fingers.

"Fuck_ you_," she screeched, before turning around and screamed something rather inappropriate at the sky.

"Justin Finch-Fletchley, you are a dead man!"

—————————————

**Author's Notes: **And the plot thickens! Another little explanation: there was another fight between Harry and Voldemort after the one in the graveyard, one that certain Death Eaters were involved in, and because of that, certain Death Eaters like Draco are keeping a very low-key profile. I'll go into that a bit more later, mind you, because it will feature in the story soon (or so I'm assuming).

I know this chapter didn't focus heavily on the relationship between Ginny and Colin and Ginny and Justin, but the next chapter will probably include more Ginny/Colin partnership action… and maybe a bit of Ginny/Justin clashing just for good measure.

This chapter's also a quick update because I started writing it yesterday, so the next chapter might take about a week to appear (considering my school schedule is pretty hectic at the moment).

Now I'll try my best to do one of those answer-reviews things.

The-Golden-Snitch: Thanks! I'm trying to add my own touch to the characters, although I think my attempt with Draco went a bit… wrong. Still, I might be able to redeem myself on behalf of him in later chapters when he does pop up again.

Lily.James.4.ever.: Ha, I probably wouldn't be able to publish this, but thanks for the encouragement. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter!

The Zazu: Nah, he's still very much around, the sneaky bugger. Thanks—I enjoy writing the way Colin and Ginny interact; it keeps me highly amused when I'm feeling down. I agree with you - the tension between Ginny and Justin is going to reach its peak in the future, which will probably end up with something being thrown at Justin or Ginny being suspended. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and here's another speedy update for you.


	4. We Are In Too Deep

**FIREBIRD**

_Count your smiles instead of your tears;  
Count your courage instead of your fears._

**&&&**

_Ginny Weasley dreams._

_She dreams of dark forests and darker moons, places where the stars don't shine and the night sky is illuminated with a pale green glow, like a snake slithering from the dark. She dreams of wolves howling—or is it people screaming?—and snowflakes falling steadily, covering footprints on the icy ground. _

_The snow is soft and powdery beneath her fingers and she picks up a fistful of the frozen rain and feels the cold chill her to the bone. But perhaps it is not the snow that makes her freeze, because as she turns around, there is a slicing green light in front of her, and then there is laughter._

_Snake eyes peer at her from the dark._

_Red, heartless eyes that are like cat's, their pupils slit in the pattern of a diamond. Red eyes that make her stop in her tracks as she tries to run, whimpering softly as the eyes come closer, closer—_

_Thomas Marvolo Riddle stands before her, as unchanged as he was when she last saw him. His hair is neatly combed, his face as pale as the surroundings they stand in, and still there is a green light hanging over them. Thomas reaches out towards her, and for a moment, Ginny Weasley almost thinks that she can see compassion on his face._

"_Ginevra Molly Weasley," he croons, and the redhead is vaguely aware that his voice sounds very much like snakes hissing in harmony together. She flinches as his hand caresses her face, but cannot pull away._

"_Get off me—" she begins, but the boy cuts her off with a secretive smile._

"_Soon, Ginevra Weasley, soon," he responds softly, letting his hand fall away from her. "When the phoenix rises from the ashes, you will be mine."_

_Phoenix from ashes?_

_Fawkes, Ginny assumes automatically and scowls. "I belong to no one," she spits back, jerking away from his attempt to touch her again._

"_Not even the Boy-Who-Lived? The great Harry Potter who, once upon a time, defeated me?" Thomas asks quietly, his voice somewhat of a drawl. _

"_Especially not him," the Auror retorts quickly, eyes flashing. _

"_And how sure are you about that?" Thomas questions again, his eyes interested and alert. Watching, always watching, and Ginny suppresses a shiver. _

"_Yes!" she snaps, annoyed at his questions. "And _especially_not _you._"_

_Reacting in a way that she does not expect, Thomas Riddle presses his hand to his chest and, instantly, the very spot he touches starts to bleed. The liquid stains the dark robes he is wearing, and he smiles warmly at her, reaching towards her and smearing the blood down the side of her face. _

_Ginny fights back the urge to be sick. "You basta—"_

"_My heart. Broken," the boy provides helpfully, pressing his hand to her breast, just where her heart is. Ginny looks down in horror as, like Thomas's did, she starts to bleed and as she bleeds, the tears drip fall fast and heavy down her face._

"_Your heart. Broken," Thomas echoes, the smile still on his face. He removes his hand and the bleeding stops as quickly as it started._

_Ginny is still crying._

"_You see, Miss Weasley, you and I are very much the same," Riddle lilts quietly, his dark eyes still watching her. She cannot look at him and, instead, stares at the snow that, once white, is now pooled with the blood of both her and Thomas._

"_Look at me," he whispers harshly, and the redhead finds herself looking into his eyes. They are no longer dark and humanlike; they are snakelike and reptilian. She fights back the urge to scream as Lord Voldemort stands in front of her, pale like a ghost with a sneer of triumph upon his face._

_Ginny does not know what to do when she calls out his name. "Harry—"_

"_He is a part of both of us," Voldemort simpers, striding towards her. She backs away quickly, blood still drip-drip-dripping from her, although the wound healed up long ago. "He killed me and he will kill you," he murmurs, one gnarled hand reaching out to grab her._

_She falls backwards and he misses, grasping thin air._

_All Ginny can hear as she falls into darkness is Lord Voldemort screaming out her name._

* * *

"_I'm sorry, Ginny. You know I love you, but—"_

_The battlefield is rich with corpses and blood. More blood, spells being thrown everywhere, curses stinging through the air, mingling with the sound of screams. There is anger and rage everywhere; Ginny can feel it pulsating through her like a virus: a disease._

_She looks down at Harry. He is slick with sweat, hair matted with dirt and blood, and she reaches towards him and strokes his forehead tenderly. The lightning bolt scar on his head appears to be on fire, and he is gasping for air—gasping, gasping, and she feels helpless._

_Strangely enough, in that moment, everything around them goes silent and Ginny can hear In Too Deep, by Phil Collins, playing somewhere in the background._

"—_I just can't take this," he wheezes, and the redhead is conscious of Phil Collins singing the exact same thing in the background. Her father's favourite song, she muses softly, stroking Harry's forehead again._

"_Shh," she whispers, eyes filling with tears again. Harry - her precious, precious Harry - he cannot leave her. "Everything is fine. Everything will be okay."_

"_We're going to die," he says faintly, and she holds his hand tightly, a determined expression upon her face. "I've let everyone down—"_

"_Harry Potter, you are the Boy-Who-Lived and you will not die," Ginny says firmly. She wishes she was as brave as he is._

_Harry Potter starts to laugh, and before her eyes, he turns into Draco Malfoy._

"_When the phoenix rises from the ashes," Draco says softly, his grey eyes full of an emotion that Ginny cannot decipher, "You will be mine."_

_Draco's face turns into Colin. "Ginny, I ate your chocolate—"_

_Colin becomes Justin Finch-Fletchley. "How about being my slave, ginger? Just for a day. You, me, my office, chains…"_

"_No!" she screams, clutching her head because this is all too much. Justin becomes Harry again and his breathing is laboured._

"_H-Harry—"_

_Next to him, Ron and Hermione are dead. Ginny screams again. One by one, the corpses of Fred, George, Percy, Charlie, Bill, Molly and Arthur appear next to Ron, all of them with their eyes wide open. Ginny continues to scream._

"_Ginny," Harry rasps, and she weeps as she looks at him. If she loses him… "Ginny, my Firebird, swallow your pride and accept the inevitable. I will die."_

"_N-no." Tears drip onto him and he does not notice. Ginny is captivated by his startling green eyes and notices, with fear, that the light in them is fading. Phil Collins is still playing in the background._

_Harry lifts up his hand and strokes her cheek. She is mesmerised by the touch, eyes drifting shut for a moment. "Harry…" she whispers. "You left me twice. I can't lose you again—"_

"_It is what must be done," he says faintly, and from nowhere, there is a knife in his hand._

_She screams as he plunges the knife into himself._

_Harry Potter bursts into flames and the cry of a phoenix is heard. Corpses burn and they, too, turn into majestic birds made of fire, crying as they ascend into the sky._

_Ginevra Weasley weeps as she is left alone with ashes and the moonlight to keep her company._

_Justin Finch-Fletchley strides forth from the ashes and holds Ginny as she cries. For once, she does not resist, and she weeps openly as, all around them, snow starts to fall. Everyone she loves is gone and all that the world has to show for it is purity. Evil has been cleansed._

_As they sit together and cry, a voice in the dark stirs._

"_When the phoenix rises from the ashes, you will be mine."_

_In softer, quieter tones, the voice adds, as if musing to itself, "But when the snake sheds its skin and shows its true colours…"_

_Seconds pass. Ginny still weeps and Justin still holds her, both of them apparently oblivious to the voice._

"… _the lion shall be set free."_

—————————————

**Author's Notes: **So I lied to you all. This chapter doesn't contain any interaction-y goodness, but a slight hint as to what the rest of this story will be about… and its sequel, _Eyelash Wishes_. Which, I must say, I am still planning out, but you should look out for it in the near future.

I'm going to admit that this story is changing from the light-hearted one I had originally planned it to be, and it probably will change a lot as I continue to write it, so please bear with me there. On a lighter note, I have updated once again and although this chapter is rather short (I don't write long dream sequences), hopefully it leaves you wanting more.

And thank you, again, The Zazu for your review. I'm glad you checked _Otherwise_ out; it's an amazing one-shot! As for the Draco and Ron question, no, they're probably not, but I'll say it now that Ron's love interest will change between Hermione and someone else, that's for sure. You're welcome with regards to the quick update, and the whole 'Is Draco a Death Eater?' question should eventually be answered. For now, I'll say that he just might be.

For the rest of you, reviews are very much welcome, as are constructive criticisms! Have a good week and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


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